


Jerky

by dahdeemohn



Series: When Worlds Collide [3]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-09 01:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6883690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dahdeemohn/pseuds/dahdeemohn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sami likes to believe that people can grow and change, but in A.J.'s case, Dean decides that an insurance policy is probably for the best.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jerky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Apollo55](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apollo55/gifts).



> Inspired by strongstyles' amazing "The Dinner Party" fic. Please go read it.

Another Friday afternoon, another WWE Live show scheduled in another forgettable city.

After Dean had checked into the hotel room, he hit up a local diner for a greasy burger and fries, then head over to the venue so that he could meet up with Sami and give him his a room key. It wasn’t unusual for Dean to be the first of the pair to arrive, since Sami typically caught a later flight from Orlando or sometimes Finn himself would tag along for a part of the tour; lord knew Dean wasn’t going to intrude on the one tangible thing that prevented his friend from being a strung-out mess for the next five days that they were on the road together. However, for this leg, it was just Dean and Sami, as Finn was in another part of the country with the rest of the NXT roster, presumably looking really sad about not having the title anymore.

“Hey!” Sami called out as he approached Dean backstage.

“What’s going on, my man?” Dean gave Sami a hearty slap on the back.

“Not much. Just came straight from the airport to here. I’m starving, have you eaten yet?” 

“Yeah, had lunch already. Think I saw catering set up, wanna go check that out?”

“Cool, let’s do that.” Sami followed as Dean lead the way to a conference room that had been transformed into a buffet spread. Aside a few staff members, they were currently the only ones there. At first they got a few odd glances, as the staff wasn’t finished, and Sami shifted uncomfortably, mumbling that they should stay out of everyone’s way and leave. After Dean repeated “dude, it’s fine” and Sami continued to protest, Dean loudly declared that his friend’s blood sugar was low and that he needed nourishment, and everyone eagerly insisted that they take some food. 

“Told you.” Dean proudly beamed as he sat down at a table with a cup of coffee, and Sami took a seat across from him, face beet red.

“I would have been fine!”

“You have no survival skills, you know that? Don’t you go hiking an’ shit with your husband? Hasn’t he taught you anything about being in the wild?” 

“He’s not-” the red in Sami’s face deepened, the pitch in his voice elevated. He cleared his throat before he continued. “I just don’t want to take advantage of anyone, that’s all.”

“How’s he holdin’ up, anyway?” Dean asked before he took a sip of coffee, then quickly set the cup down when he realized how hot it was, tip of his tongue now burnt.

“Finn’s OK. I think the loss still stings a bit, but he doesn’t wanna talk about it. I think he’s worried that I’ll start trying to pry for info about him finally debuting here.” Sami absently poked at his food with his fork, and Dean reached over plucked a carrot stick from his plate. “Hey!”

“You weren’t eating it. Anyway, sounds ‘bout right.” 

“I’m not that bad!”

Dean snorted as he popped the carrot into his mouth. “Yeah y’are.”

“Maybe a little.” 

“Y’do anything exciting together?” Dean found that he had slowly been getting better at making small talk; it wasn’t that he didn’t know how to, but previously he couldn’t have been bothered to give a damn about anyone’s personal life unless he could have used that info for his own gain, and he certainly didn’t want to share anything about his own. Sami was the outlier in his life through and through, and it didn’t make him completely uncomfortable that this odd and genuinely decent red-head was someone that Dean actually cared about the wellbeing of, and subsequently could open up to.

That thought process aside, Sami still talked a lot. And quickly. Dean zoned out a few times, but caught something about canoeing and a picnic and a foreign flick at a local cinema, some goddamn adorable shit and he thought about inquiring when the wedding would be, but was cut off before he said anything when he realized that Sami’s speech slowed down and had started to stutter, his attention now completely diverted to a new presence.

“Sup, Styles.” Dean greeted nonchalantly, then looked back at Sami. “You were saying?”

“I’m...that was it.” Sami swallowed, then turned to make polite conversation with A.J., who for some reason was still hanging around. Dean didn’t necessarily mind A.J., didn’t care for him either, and if Roman would ever get his dumb head out of his dumb ass, Dean would have been happy to assist against “The Club” or whatever awful thing these goobers called themselves. For now, there was nothing other than neutrality, and the sentiment seemed to be mutual.

“Oh. OK.” Dean took another sip of coffee and observed. A.J. was all smiles and inquired about how Finn was, but Sami’s body language was tense, his smile a facade and something was so off. Sure, Sami and Finn weren’t exactly out or whatever, and it was possible that A.J. didn’t know, but the way that Sami worded everything was so carefully selected, so guarded. Sami was weird, sure, but this was _weird_. 

“Alright Styles, let the man eat. His bloodsugar’s a mess.” Dean cut in during a lull in the conversation and gave a dismissive wave and received a confused look in exchange.

“OK, see you boys around!” A.J. pleasantly responded before he departed.

“Guy can’t take a hint.” Dean remarked once A.J. wasn’t within earshot. “You gonna eat that roll? Sami?”

“Huh? Oh...no, you can have it. I don’t think I’m as hungry as I thought I was.” Sami pushed it towards Dean.

“The fuck? What’s wrong with you? You were starvin’ like 10 minutes ago.”

“Iunno. It’s not a big deal, though.”

“You should still eat.” Dean pointed out, and Sami begrudgingly brought a forkful of food into his mouth. “There y’go.”

They sat in silence while Sami slowly picked at his plate and Dean finished his coffee, one eye on his friend and another across the room at A.J.. He took a final sip, shook the cup a bit to make sure there was not liquid sloshing around, then grabbed the untouched roll off of Sami’s plate.

“C’mon, let’s get going.” Dean stood up and scratched at his stomach, and Sami seemed instantly relieved at those words and followed suit. Once the trash had been deposited and they left the conference room, Dean looked around to make sure that no one of importance was around, and as they walked, he asked, “Alright, what th’fuck was that about?”

“What’re you talking about?” Sami nervously laughed.

“You got all messed up around Styles.”

“No I didn’t, I just don’t know him that well! I’m not gonna talk to him like I talk to you.”

“Bullshit. I seen you talk about people that you don’t know that good, and you’re always this ray of goddamn sunshine. What was that? Isn’t he Finn’s friend, shouldn’t that-”

“Yes!” Sami exclaimed, then ducked his head a little as he looked around, spotted a corner and dragged Dean behind it. “Yes, OK he’s Finn’s friend. I think. Finn doesn’t talk about him a lot, but I’m sure they’re friends.”

“What, were they boyfriends at some point?”

“What? No!” 

“So what’s the big deal?”

“A.J....has a history…”

“We all got one of those.” Dean snorted.

“No, like he’s said some stuff. Uh...homophobic stuff. In the past.”

“Oh.” Dean’s face dropped, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, I think a lot of us around here have said stuff that we regret. I know I have.”

“Right, I get that. I do. But...I don’t know. I like to give the benefit of the doubt and think that people can grow and change, but in this case it hits really close to home. What if he finds out and it impacts his friendship with Finn? What if he says those _things_ to Finn, calls him those names?”

“Then he’s not a friend, that’s what.”

“I just don’t want to start anything, that’s all. But then I feel like I can’t talk about Finn, and sometimes he asks about him because he knows that we hang out.”

“You talk to Balor about any of this?”

“No, not yet. I don’t know how to bring this kind of thing up.”

“You go, ‘hey baby, is your friend with the shitty haircut a total dickwad?’ Then he answers the question and then you kiss him or something.”

“Like it’s that easy.”

“Shouldn’t it be?”

“I guess, yeah.” Sami laughed and Dean smiled, glad to ease some of the tension; he wasn’t exactly a relationship expert, but it was easy to tell that the dynamics of what his friend shared with his partner wasn’t exactly turbulent waters to navigate. “Alright, you mind if I have my room key? I’m gonna go drop my stuff off and take a shower, maybe take a nap.”

“Yeah, here y’go.” Dean pulled the second key out of his wallet, along with the paper card holder that had the room number written on it, and handed it over to Sami. “You know where it is, right?”

“A block away. Already got the info loaded on my phone.”

“Great. See you later tonight.”

“You too.”

After Sami left, Dean head back towards the conference room, chewing thoughtfully at the roll in his hand. He pushed open the door and looked around for A.J., but found that it was now crowded and A.J. was now accompanied by Karl and Luke. Frankly, Dean knew that he could take them all on, but he didn’t want to go shouting about Sami’s business in a crowded room. Instead, he played it cool and grabbed a second roll from the buffet, then strode out confidently, as though that’s what he intended on doing all along.

For the remainder of the afternoon, Dean watched out for A.J., while simultaneously making sure that he avoided Sami. Did those bald goons never take a break? And why did they all slap each other on the chest all the damn time? Dean half expected one of them to shout “good game” and dole out ass pats at some point. What a bizarre club. A bite was taken from the second roll, then shoved back into the pocket of his hoodie.

An opening presented itself when Karl and Luke took off to go get changed into their Matrix costumes, and A.J. head towards the restroom. Casually, Dean sauntered in moments after him, and briefly checked to see if there were any other occupants; as luck would have it, they were alone. He waited for the exact moment that the sound of the zipper being pulled echoed to lock the door, then strolled over to the urinals and took the one right next to A.J. and cleared his throat.

“Hey Dean, little privacy?” A.J. sounded a little irritated.

“Oh, hey there, Styles. Just the guy I was looking for, actually. Wanna talk to you for a second, it’ll be really quick.”

“Right now?” 

“Yeah, we’re both here. So hey, I got this friend, Sami Zayn.”

“What about Sami?” A.J. rolled his eyes, then finished up, but before he could get away Dean grabbed his arm and held firmly him in place. “What the hell, Dean?” 

“A.J., Sami’s a really good friend of mine. REALLY good friend, you hear?” Dean’s voice lowered to a growl, and A.J. tried to break away but Dean’s grip was strong, a strength that no one could possibly estimate from Dean’s wiry frame. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know much ‘bout you. Don’t care. Don’t got no issues with you. Yet.”

“Then let me the fuck go! I don’t want no trouble with you neither, but I’ll fuck you up right here if you don’t let go!”

“You listen good. Open your fucking ears, take your stupid hair outta them.” Dean leaned in, snarling, teeth bared. “You ever come at Sami with any of your dumb shit about gay people, you ever call him names or make him feel bad or fucking go so far as to _look_ at him in such a way that hurts his feelings -and trust me, he’s got a lot of ‘em-, I will fucking cut you open and rip off all of your skin. All of it. I’ll turn you into jerky. Fuckin’ Smoked A.J. Styled jerky. I will end you, do you hear? And then I’ll eat you.”

AJ laughed in disbelief, which only angered Dean and intensified his grip. “Alright, I got you! I got it! Trust me, I...I got it.”

“You sure? You sure your stupid Billy Ray Cyrus hair allowed that to puncture your brain?”

“Yes, absolutely, you have my word.” 

Dean loosened his grip and smiled, all traces of malice gone. “Thanks man, that’s great. I really appreciate it.”

“Sure, you got it.” A.J. took his arm back and rubbed the area, surprised that none of the skin was broken. “So is Sami really-”

“None’a your business, Styles.” Dean turned around to face a urinal and unzipped himself. “Now give a man some room to take a piss, will ya?”


End file.
